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Friday, March 1, 2013

Day 312: Shameless

They are
barely large enough for a single person to squeeze into at all, let alone swing
a cat.

But
incredibly these tiny 'coffin' apartments in central Tokyo still command rents
of up to £400 a month.

The Japanese
capital is one of the most crowded cities in the world, and to cash in on the
chronic housing problem, landlords have developed what are known as 'geki-sema'
or share houses.

They are
little more than cupboards, tiny cubicles stacked on top of each other with
just enough room for one person and a few of their possessions.

Definitely
not for the claustrophobic, many don't even have windows and the doors and
anyone over 6ft tall would have trouble stretching their legs.

Most are
used by young professionals who spend most of their time at work and outdoors,
using these tiny accommodations just for sleeping.

The photo's
of the apartments in the Tokyo’s Shibuya district come from a recent Japanese
news program showed. - MailOnline

We do despicable things to one another, and most of the time we refuse to even acknowledge responsibility. These landlords who are exploiting the housing crisis in Tokyo do not feel that they are responsible for the position their tenants are in, they feel they are only making the best of a bad situation. By supplying housing to the public, even if it is only a tiny box to sleep in, they feel that their actions are justifiable, as they do not feel responsible for the crisis itself. So in the landlords' minds, they are free from blame and feel free to exploit as much as they can possibly manage, because they are not responsible.

Somehow, no one stops to consider that our actions toward each other are the very root of all these crises we find ourselves in - it is our disregard for others' comfort, safety and happiness that allows us to act without shame or remorse so that we can exploit and rob each other of dignified lives. We are willing to make other people live in tiny boxes so that we may profit. We have absolutely no regard for what any other living being would like - we only care when our own interests are at stake.

Imagine how different life would be if every person lived with consideration and kindness, if the act of giving brought as much joy and fulfillment as receiving. Imagine if exploitation suddenly stopped and became a thing of the past, a bad dream only half remembered. Imagine if we were to teach our children to work together and care about each other instead of competing and creating separation. How much different would our lives be if we were to realise the shame of how we live?

The most common response I see to the concept of Equal Money, or even just the concept of people are able to change the world, is that people cannot change, it's human nature for us to be turds. The only reason any person would say this is because they want to continue living without shame so that they can profit from the continued exploitation and abuse. Unfortunately, this is the case with 99,9% of people who are in a position to really make a difference - the rest of the human population is too bust trying to scrape by to even realise the extent of the problem.